Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer

How does it sound?

Music:

• A Perfect Circle, The Matrix Soundtrack, Pelican, Death Note Soundtrack, St Germain, Jamiroquai and Royksopp. 16-bit/44.1KHz CD quality audio ranging from lossless FLAC to OGG and MP3.

Currently the Sondigo Inferno doesn't have drivers supporting Dolby Headphone in Windows Vista, but the Dolby 7.1 Virtual Shifter still works very well for both a 5.1 and headphone setup.

In contrast the X-Fi Crystalizer deepens the bass and gives a good experience, but CMSS-3D doesn't work nearly as well as the Dolby alternatives, especially with headphones were it's better left off. It works better with a multichannel setup but still isn't as good in the distinct spatial separation of particular sounds.

The raw performance with no DSP enhancements is where both give a comparable performance, with a great dynamic range of very precise sounds. The Creative needs to be specifically set to Entertainment Mode for the best results, but it's not like Game Mode or Audio Creation Mode are particularly bad, just not quite as tailored.

Movies:

• Kung Fu Hustle with six channel DTS sound and 28 Days Later DVD with 5.1 Dolby Surround.

The Sondigo has a full bass with a good surround but doesn't feel like it has depth unless you turn on Dolby 7.1 Virtual Shifter. In Windows Vista, the software only picks the DTS track as being two channel as well. Without additional DSP effects it does a great job of playing back the 28 Days Later DVD, although Dolby 7.1 Virtual Shifter made it sound far worse in this case.

In contrast, the X-Fi XtremeGamer's Entertainment Mode adds more bass, and is better suited to the large sound differences between people talking and action taking place. We found ourselves continually turning up or down the volume on the Sondigo in Kung Fu Hustle, which wasn't the case with the Creative.

Gaming:

• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and Half-Life 2: Episode One

The Sondigo with or without DSP effects caused seriously bad echoing and corruption in the sound stream when playing Command & Conquer 3. This was the same whether it was played through 5.1 speakers or headphones and it got to the point where it was almost unplayable. The XtremeGamer however provided perfect audio with great spatial positioning and depth for things on and off screen.

Half-Life 2 on the other hand seems to work just fine on both cards. Half-Life 2 doesn't include EAX, but even then, the X-Fi still sounds better. It's hard to find a game that doesn't support EAX these days though, so if you're a gamer the X-Fi should be a definitive choice.

Please bear in mind that you'll need the latest version of Creative's Alchemy to get EAX if you're using Vista. Even though Creative states that Alchemy is only needed for "older" titles, there are still quite a few very recent games on the list, including C&C3.

Conclusion:

For around £62 (inc. VAT), (or £56 if you are a regular contributor in our community and qualify for free delivery with Scan) the Creative XtremeGamer is a serious bargain. You might be a bit wary of investing in a PCI card, but the slots should still be around in motherboards for a few years yet, and it's a small investment compared to shelling out £150-plus for the top models. It's Vista support is really very good, although we'd still like Creative to include a task bar icon like they do in Windows XP.

Okay, you don't get the 64MB of X-RAM or I/O connector for expansion, but you still get a very capable card for entertainment, gaming and audio creation. Some people would argue that on-board sound does the job just fine, especially since many now offer the same extra Dolby and DTS that discrete cards use, but the sound quality of the XtremeGamer is just head and shoulders over anything on-board.

Couple this card with a good pair of headphones or some Gigaworks T20s and you have a superb combination not much over £100.

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What do these scores mean?